September 10: TV Dinner Day

Although frozen dinners were available to bars and tavern as early as 1940, the concept really took hold in 1954 when Swanson’s frozen meals appeared. Swanson was a well-known brand that consumers recognized, and Swanson launched a massive advertising campaign for their product.

They also coined the phrase TV Dinner, which helped to transform their frozen meals into a cultural icon.

In their first year, Swanson & Sons sold over 10 million TV dinners. The 98-cent meals included turkey, corn bread dressing, gravy, peas, and sweet potatoes.